The Asian Festival of 1st Films (AFFF) is exclusively dedicated to creating a platform showcasing original content and first time film debuts in the categories of Director, Producer, Actor, Cinematographer, Editor, Writer and Documentary film maker. AFFF 2008 will be held in Singapore from the 4th Dec to the 10th Dec.

Established in 2005, by Teamwork Productions, the festival has showcased over 60 films from 40 countries worldwide. AFFF invites entries from all over the world and the final selected entries are screened at the annual festival in Singapore with a number of red carpet and celebrity events spread over one week. The gala awards night has members of the jury and International film personalities presenting the specially created crystal award designed and produced by Swarovski.

As AFFF continues to establish its reputation as the premiere festival for debut film makers we hope to bring together audiences from all walks of life to engage with producers and directors of nominated films.

You can also register at the festival website as a Delegate and watch unlimited movies during the festival. For more information on AFFF 2008 please visit the festival website.

With the theme of Understand, Adapt and Evolve – Towards a Market for Asian Content, the Media Financing Forum 2008 will present the views and insights of industry leaders with the focus of presenting viable business models employed in the US, Europe and Asia in the areas of content development, financing its production and the subsequent sales and distribution of content.

The Media Financing Forum (MFF) comprises of 2 key components: keynotes (CONFERENCE) and 1-on-1 meetings with financiers (CONSULT @ MFF).

Asia Television Forum (ATF), the anchor event at AMF, is Asia’s leading programming platform for international television programme sellers to meet Asian buyers and partners. ATF reinforces its position as the leader in programming market with participation from more than 500 companies and close to 50 countries in 2007 out of which 140 new companies attended the market for the first time.

Hosted by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), the AMF2008 Country Showcase is the ideal international platform for government and industry representatives from visiting delegations to network and share information towards facilitating international co-productions among the participants, and also to identify co-production projects.

The showcase will also serve as an important industry networking opportunity for Asian and European producers, financiers and distributors to seek partners for collaborations. Similar to last year’s event, we expect a strong turn-out for this event, including government and industry participants from Australia, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, China, Japan, Korea and ASEAN countries. Approximately 150 attendees comprising of media content producers, policy makers and regulators are expected to attend the Country Showcase.

The “Asia Media Festival 2008 Country Showcase” will have 2 sessions: “Creating Content for Multi-Platform: Challenges & Opportunities” and “International Co-Productions: Opportunities & Incentives”. The first session will feature speakers who will share their insights on the opportunities and challenges for creating media content for delivery on multiple platforms. The second session will feature speakers from selected government agencies who will share details on the schemes and incentives available in their countries that will support international co-productions.

This year, Digital Future Symposium (DFS) will be focusing on Digital Watermarking and Fingerprinting for Content Recognition. The symposium will access the downstream benefits of such technologies and their application across different media. Convergence is an overarching agenda as content recognition applications will need to function across devices, platforms and standards effortlessly.

HD Superpitch by Television Asia Plus presents contestants’ access to a panel of commissioning editors and executives from key channels, networks and content creation companies in the region. Hear regional production houses and independents pitch their ideals for new content at this exciting session!

With a digital strategy at the heart of every media business model, the global media players are coming round to the idea that digital is more than just a way to receive traditional media. It is an entirely new world in the driving seat to distribute their content as widely as possible across different platforms.

Asian Television Awards (ATA) is an annual event that has evolved into the ONLY PRESTIGIOUS award for broadcasters, programmers and production houses in Asia . Launched in 1996, ATA seeks to recognize and reward talents in Asian broadcast industry and to nurture and develop future talents for the Asian broadcast industry.

At the new media conference session, we explore Widgets and the Future of TV – to introduce the shift in consumer behaviour for content providers and advertisers through the use of Widgets on TV programmes and advertising.

To further encourage creative exchanges in the field of film between China and Singapore, the Film Bureau under the China State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) will co-organize the China Film Festival in Singapore in December 2008. This event falls under the MOU on media cooperation signed between SARFT and MDA, and is part of the Film Bureau SARFT-MDA agreement to co-organise film festivals in China and Singapore in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Screening schedule and ticketing information for the China Film Festival 2008 will be available soon.